The first commercial airliner was the de
Havilland Comet I. It was designed and built in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United
Kingdom in 1949. The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a leader in aircraft
design and manufacturing having excelled with the building for such fighter
planes as the Spitfire, Mosquito, trainers like the Chipmunk (I first learned to
fly this plane in the RAF), Gipsy Queen, Dove, Heron and many more fine
aircraft. The Comet I was thoroughly tested in the UK and around the world. It
was assigned a certificate of airworthiness and went into commercial business
around the world. Then came two catastrophic accidents and the plane was taken
from commercial use. Months of detailed testing revealed that these planes had a
major metal fatigue weakness. The designers insisted on square windows to make
sure it did not resemble a ship's pothole. It was a mistake. A crack occurred
from one of the windows to a dome on the top of the fuselage.
The dome was used for shooting star navigation with a sextant. (no GPS in those
days).

This
is a picture of the first commercial jet airliner on the day it rolled out onto
the apron in 1949. Please notice the square windows. My father is under the nose of the plane --- highlighted!
What a magnificent handsome
plane! Would be good looking even in 2001.
Please
notice the round windows on the Comet III. The new plane was fine but it had
lost its reputation. The Boeing 707 came along and took over the market. Comet
conducting tests under very cold conditions in Canada. My father is second from
the top. More
discussion in my book.
This
photograph was taken in Nairobi in about 1949. My father was there testing the
Comet I under extreme heat conditions. Please note the square windows.
This
is a copy of the certificate given to my father after he crossed the equator in
the first commercial airliner, the Comet I, G-ALVG, at 9:45 AM on April 25,
1950. It is signed by de Havilland's famous test pilot, John Cunningham. This
trip was to Nairobi.
Comet
I on world marketing tour in 1949. Honolulu welcomed the chief flight inspector;
my father.
Please
note the conditions under, which the crew traveled around the world in 1949;
oxygen masks and hard seats. The cabin pressure was only 2.5 psig, which
probably saved my father's life. When the commercial planes went into service at
normal passenger pressure of about 8.5 psig the metal failed from these square
windows to the dome fitting. Note the square window. These men were pioneers and
should be respected as such. Much of what was learned in the Comet I was passed
onto Boeing, which built the Boeing 707 soon thereafter.
This
photograph was taken in the Comet III assembly shop on October 26, 1956. The
location is the de Havilland Aircraft Company, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK.
Please note the round windows and the method of assembly; they construct
commercial aircraft with the same basic techniques today. The nose of the Comet
III will be joined to the equivalent of Bo
This
is a photograph of the new Comet III with the new round windows. These planes
went into commercial operation and was a modest success. The Boeing 707 came
into operation and dominated the market and was a great success.
Sir Geoffrey de Havilland wrote an autobiography called, "Sky
Fever" and I have included four pages of this book as it describes
what happens when a pressurized cabin breaks up and I thought his words
from the 1960's would be more appropriate than mine.
Page from Sir Geoffrey's book. He discusses the problems with the Comet I.
Read
these two pages and understand what happens when an aircraft breaks up in
mid-air. The most interesting part describes the noise on the Cockpit
Voice Recorder.

The Comet III was a magnificent
and beautiful plane.
Harry Davies
My
father, Harry Davies, died on June 13, 2001.
He was 89 years old. In my opinion, like the
unknown soldier, he was one of the first unknown aviation
pioneers, having been involved with the
DeHavilland Comet 1 experimental team and having flown around the
world in an experimental aeroplane which had
serious metal fatigue problems. He was a
chief inspector on these flights, making sure that
the aeroplane met the specifications of
airworthiness, according to the design. The
Comet 1 went into commercial operation and, within
a short period of time, two had crashed. My
father was part of the investigation team which
determined what had caused these crashes.